Litchi question

[Tenly]

From the current Autopilot Flight School...at Flight School - Autoflight Logic

So, clarify, if you care to take the time. Litchi works pretty well for me and I don't feel particularly compelled to spend $30 to investigate the merits of Autopilot on my own.

Well - my advice all along has been "look to Autopilot if you find that Litchi can't do what you need..."

If Litchi does everything you need it to - that's great! I'm not trying to get you to abandon it - was just letting you (and others) know that there is a more robust, feature rich alternative to Litchi that can be called upon if you need options that Litchi doesn't provide!

As for the LCMC limitations that you posted from
the Autopilot documentation - those same limitations should exist for Litchi and any other 3rd party software that allows LCMC - because they are inherent to the DJI flight controller and SDK.

Are you saying that's not true? Can you elaborate as to which of the Autopilot LCMC limitations are *not* limitations when using Litchi?

Oh - and I forgot to answer your earlier question about offline mission creation with Autopilot. I'm actually not sure if you can create a waypoint mission on a computer - but you can certainly do so on a tablet or phone - and then have the mission show up on all of your devices. I design all my waypoint missions on the iPad and then run them from the iPhone.

One of the best waypoint features (connected, using the custom flight controller) is the complete isolation between camera focus and drone path. You can drop focus points anywhere on the map and control the transitions from one focus point to the next (and so much more!)


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[MacCool]

As for the LCMC limitations that you posted from
the Autopilot documentation - those same limitations should exist for Litchi and any other 3rd party software that allows LCMC - because they are inherent to the DJI flight controller and SDK.

Are you saying that's not true? Can you elaborate as to which of the Autopilot LCMC limitations are *not* limitations when using Litchi?

I agree that there appear to be some cool features in Autopilot, but it appears that I'd be giving up some features too if I want to fly LCMC. With Litchi I can:

• set per-waypoint speeds
• set different altitudes that vary by waypoint
• take panos at any given waypoint
• set camera actions at any given waypoint
• return to first waypoint, or reverse the mission

I'm trying to decide if the extra features I get from Autopilot flying the limits of controller range are worth what I'd be giving up on the relatively few occasions when I'd be flying Litchi LCMC.

 

[Tenly]

I agree that there appear to be some cool features in Autopilot, but it appears that I'd be giving up some features too if I want to fly LCMC. With Litchi I can:

• set per-waypoint speeds
• set different altitudes that vary by waypoint
• take panos at any given waypoint
• set camera actions at any given waypoint
• return to first waypoint, or reverse the mission

I'm trying to decide if the extra features I get from Autopilot flying the limits of controller range are worth what I'd be giving up on the relatively few occasions when I'd be flying Litchi LCMC.

The LCMC limitations are imposed by the DJI SDK - so all 3rd party software should have the same capabilities. If Autopilot doesn't currently do those things that you say Litchi can do - I'd bet that the next update enables them.

But in any case - I thought you already owned Litchi? If that's true - then don't but auto-pilot until you need it for something Litchi can't do. If you haven't bought either one yet - well, Autopilot is the more capable - but it's a little more difficult to learn and a little more expensive - and all those extra capabilities don't count for much if you don't ever expect to use them.

It's your call as to which one you buy - but nobody says you can only have one! Sorry I can't help make the decision for you! I'm partial to AutoPilot obviously - but both programs are putting out updates regularly and I haven't done a fair head to head analysis of capabilities in about 5 months - so my information may be a little outdated.

No matter which one you buy, i think you'll be happy. They're both way better than "Go" for waypoints, follow and even POI's. I'd suggest you take a look at the most recent Flight school vids on YouTube (search for autoflightlogic) and also the latest from Litchi and then just go with your gut!

(With Litchi - in a waypoint mission - can you program the camera to be aimed at any arbitrary spot on the map? I had thought your only options were straight ahead - or aimed at the next waypoint). In the Autopilot videos - pay attention when they talk about "focus strategies" since that is the feature that sold me on platform. So many options!


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[MacCool]

The LCMC limitations are imposed by the DJI SDK - so all 3rd party software should have the same capabilities. If Autopilot doesn't currently do those things that you say Litchi can do - I'd bet that the next update enables them.

But in any case - I thought you already owned Litchi? If that's true - then don't but auto-pilot until you need it for something Litchi can't do. If you haven't bought either one yet - well, Autopilot is the more capable - but it's a little more difficult to learn and a little more expensive - and all those extra capabilities don't count for much if you don't ever expect to use them.

It's your call as to which one you buy - but nobody says you can only have one! Sorry I can't help make the decision for you! I'm partial to AutoPilot obviously - but both programs are putting out updates regularly and I haven't done a fair head to head analysis of capabilities in about 5 months - so my information may be a little outdated.

No matter which one you buy, i think you'll be happy. They're both way better than "Go" for waypoints, follow and even POI's. I'd suggest you take a look at the most recent Flight school vids on YouTube (search for autoflightlogic) and also the latest from Litchi and then just go with your gut!

(With Litchi - in a waypoint mission - can you program the camera to be aimed at any arbitrary spot on the map? I had thought your only options were straight ahead - or aimed at the next waypoint). In the Autopilot videos - pay attention when they talk about "focus strategies" since that is the feature that sold me on platform. So many options!


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Nah. Litchi can be programmed to look anywhere. But your advice is good...I'll probably pick up Autopilot at some point if and when the suite matures and it does something that I need that Litchi isn't already doing for me.

 

[Tenly]

Nah. Litchi can be programmed to look anywhere. But your advice is good...I'll probably pick up Autopilot at some point if and when the suite matures and it does something that I need that Litchi isn't already doing for me.

It's comments like "when the suite matures" that make me think I haven't explained Autopilot properly. You seem to have the impression that Litchi is more advanced and that Autopilot is playing catch up - but it's actually the opposite that's true.

Litchi started out as Android only and Autopilot as iOS only - but as they both matured, they each added support for the other platform.

Initially - Autopilot didn't see a demand for LCMC and so intentionally did not provide the option and instead focused on perfecting the waypoint engine with their custom flight controller adding capabilities that are simply not possible for anyone else to provide without building their own flight controller. About 4 months ago - due to user requests - they did enable an LCMC mode - that at the time was identical to Litchi's and was extremely limited when contrasted to their custom solution. The limitations were imposed by the DJI SDK - which appears to have been improved if you can now change speed and altitude at each waypoint when disconnected. I'd almost be willing to bet that AutoPilot's LCMC mode is still identical to the Litchi one and that the doc you referred to is old.

In any case, just as an FYI - here are a couple of screenshots of a waypoint mission I made with Autopilot (connected) to produce flyover videos for a local golf course. The green markers are focus points - spots that I wanted to point the camera at during various portions of the flight. The blue markers are the actual waypoints which define the path of the drone - on each, you can specify a speed and altitude, as well as an action to do when the drone arrives before moving on to the next one. If the speeds are different between 2 waypoints, the speed is gradually adjusted while the drone flies between the 2 points so that it is flying at the defined speed as it arrives at the waypoint that defines it (same with altitude changes). On the flight path, you'll notice green circles - those are camera trigger points. The green circles can be placed anywhere along the path and tell the drone that when you arrive *here*, you should aim at the matching green focus point. Like the speed and altitude - there is also an option to pan the camera gradually from one focus to the next while traveling between the 2 green circles - or for those times when it is necessary - you can also specify an abrupt transition instead of gradual. But using the green markers is just one focus srategy! You can also have it point in a fixed compass direction, a fixed angle with respect to the path of the drone, locked on to a beacon - or you can assign it to the RC joystick so you can control the camera manually while the drone flies the defined waypoint path! On each of the green focus points you place - you can also specify an altitude in case the spot you wish to focus on is not on the ground. I'm sure I've missed an option or two- but I know that Litchi does not provide anything close to the same flexibility that Autopilot does when it comes to how, when and where to point the camera during an automated flight!

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Oh! And I nearly forgot the best feature for waypoint design! The path inspector! You can place this tool anywhere on your flight path and then press go - and it will fly a simulated drone along your path and show you where the camera points, current speed, altitude, elapsed time - everything you could possibly want to see or know before you actually fly for real! It saves tons of time on test flights and tweaking....

 

[lmayes69]

@Tenly , I'm pretty sure you can you can do this in litchi i think that its just set up differently. using POI's tell my camera where to focus and it will automatically focus there. I can also set the altitude of the poi and the camera will adjust accordingly. also you can program certain actions in litchi at different waypoints. My issue with auto pilot is that it is NOT on android

Litchi started out as Android only and Autopilot as iOS only - but as they both matured, they each added support for the other platform.

I own litchi and DJI ultimate flight. I still find myself using litchi the most, but I like that DJI ultimate flight allows orbits in the mission. I am just not a fan of their interface. still getting use to it.

 

[MacCool]

It's comments like "when the suite matures" that make me think I haven't explained Autopilot properly. You seem to have the impression that Litchi is more advanced and that Autopilot is playing catch up - but it's actually the opposite that's true.

Litchi started out as Android only and Autopilot as iOS only - but as they both matured, they each added support for the other platform.

I'm aware of all that. Litchi has some maturing to do as well.

The limitations were imposed by the DJI SDK - which appears to have been improved if you can now change speed and altitude at each waypoint when disconnected. I'd almost be willing to bet that AutoPilot's LCMC mode is still identical to the Litchi one and that the doc you referred to is old.

If that's true, lack of current documentation on their "Flight School" website isn't exactly a selling point. I note that many or most of their YouTube instructional videos are out of date too.

In any case, just as an FYI - here are a couple of screenshots of a waypoint mission I made with Autopilot (connected) to produce flyover videos for a local golf course. The green markers are focus points - spots that I wanted to point the camera at during various portions of the flight. The blue markers are the actual waypoints which define the path of the drone - on each, you can specify a speed and altitude, as well as an action to do when the drone arrives before moving on to the next one. If the speeds are different between 2 waypoints, the speed is gradually adjusted while the drone flies between the 2 points so that it is flying at the defined speed as it arrives at the waypoint that defines it (same with altitude changes). On the flight path, you'll notice green circles - those are camera trigger points. The green circles can be placed anywhere along the path and tell the drone that when you arrive *here*, you should aim at the matching green focus point. Like the speed and altitude - there is also an option to pan the camera gradually from one focus to the next while traveling between the 2 green circles - or for those times when it is necessary - you can also specify an abrupt transition instead of gradual. But using the green markers is just one focus srategy! You can also have it point in a fixed compass direction, a fixed angle with respect to the path of the drone, locked on to a beacon - or you can assign it to the RC joystick so you can control the camera manually while the drone flies the defined waypoint path! On each of the green focus points you place - you can also specify an altitude in case the spot you wish to focus on is not on the ground. I'm sure I've missed an option or two- but I know that Litchi does not provide anything close to the same flexibility that Autopilot does when it comes to how, when and where to point the camera during an automated flight!

Just like Litchi.

Oh! And I nearly forgot the best feature for waypoint design! The path inspector! You can place this tool anywhere on your flight path and then press go - and it will fly a simulated drone along your path and show you where the camera points, current speed, altitude, elapsed time - everything you could possibly want to see or know before you actually fly for real! It saves tons of time on test flights and tweaking....

But I'd be relegated to doing all that design on my mobile device, right? Not on my home computer with 30" monitor, or even my laptop?

 

[Squirrel!]

Still with the thread, Andy?

 

[Gnormand]

There is a downloadable 30 something page tutorial for the Litchi app on their website...you have to look
very hard for it

 

[rkingsb353]

Those settings are stored on the Phantom and executed by the Phantom itself. It doesn't matter which app you're using to fly.

Went to the apple App Store and they have one Litchi for $22.99 and another for $27.99. What is the difference and which one do you recommend?

 

[MacCool]

The one for $27.99 is two apps....Litchi, and Litchi for Osmo. You don't need Litchi for Osmo (unless you have an Osmo).

 

[NRJ]

Regarding Litchi, what is the best way to learn how to use it? Does it come with a good online manual? The YouTube videos I have seen seem pretty confusing.

I didn't get all the way through this post, but you can go to flylitchi.com and the help has the manuals for Litchi. Also, for a very reasonable price you can go to Online Courses - Anytime, Anywhere | Udemy and take Filmschool 1, 2, and 3 and get some "walk you through it steps" on how to get the most bang for your buck using Litchi. Hope this helps.

 

[Mainshipper]

To be fair the only issue I had was plugging my S7edge in....it restarted, but after that it was fine (using GO app) however I'm not sure the power button wasn't being pressed by the tablet holder on the RC....it only use my phone as a backup device, normally use a Samsung Galaxy tab S2 8", which was flawless today.

Switched to litchi because of the recent GO app reviews, plus love the tracking on Litchi and the Magic leash. Not tried waypoints just yet...got to get my brave up first!! Seeing a £700 price of kit fly away and lose signal seems unnatural at the moment. I just find the tracking makes somewhat difficult "follow shots" much easier than GO. I really don't get why GO can't use Active track on P3's. The only difference is the collision avoidance sensors on the P4. If a 3rd party app can do it, why won't DJI unlock it for us P3 owners!!!!!

Sent from my SM-G935F using PhantomPilots mobile app

I fly only Waypoints with Litchi and think it's the easiest of the apps to set up. As far as the fly away, it will complete the pre-defined mission even with signal loss. It's happened to me on several occasions and always came back.